Unit 1: Scientific Literacy

Scientific literature - only primary & secondary are appropriate sources Primary: presents new scientific ideas and data written by scientists who have done research themselves peer-reviewed Secondary: summarizes results and ideas form primary literature written for scientists Tertiary: written for nonscientific audiences Citing literature APA format: emphasizes date source was published common in science

Experimental design Scientific method Hypothesis: testable statement to explain set of observations observation, question, and prediction if/than statement Experiment Results Theory: hypothesis that has been tested and supported so much that it is considered a fact Experimental variables Independent: variable being changed often environmental should only be one: when that is the case, the experiment is said to be manipulative or controlled Dependent: things being measured and observed can be multiple Control: things that need to remain constant to see effect of independent control group rules out alternative explanations of the results, aids in precision positive: guarantee positive result to show proper experiment negative: guaranteed negative result to show absence of treatment Standard error/deviation: how precise data is dependent on size of data set Treatment/experimental groups: group getting varying amount of IV to see response in DV

Graphs *make sure you know when to use which type of graph and how to properly graph a set of data!* Scatterplot: when you want to show overall trend of individual data points Line: when you want to summarize relationship between independent & dependent variables over time Bar: when you want to compare totals or averages between different groups ie. averages Pie:when you want to plot data as percentages of a whole Histogram: when you want to illustrate distribution of frequencies or values used when data can be plotted as numbers or percentages in a rough bell shape X-axis: independent Y-axis: dependent Graph should include Descriptive title Axis labels & units Key (if using colors/blockings)